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Klinsmann says Copa America has more quality than ‘diluted’ Euro 2016

Jurgen Klinsmann USMNT Guatemala 70

As a player and a coach, Jurgen Klinsmann has been a part of many international tournaments, and the U.S. Men’s National Team head coach believes the one his team currently faces will be more rigorous than the one across the Atlantic.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s friendly against Ecuador, Klinsmann said he believes that the upcoming Copa America will be just as, if not more, competitive than Euro 2016.

“If you compare this Copa America with these 16 nations, compared to the 24 going into the Euros,” Klinsmann said on Tuesday, “then I almost think you have more quality in this Copa America than you have in this diluted, 24-team version of the European Championship.

“The six CONCACAF nations are very good, very strong and obviously the South Americans are all powerhouses. If you look at the World Cup qualifying campaign in South America and who is fighting for spot four, five, six, it’s impressive.”

While the Euros obviously boast reigning World Cup champions Germany, the upcoming Copa America features eight teams that qualified for the 2014 World Cup’s knockout rounds compared to just five from Europe. The two tournaments also split the top 10 teams in the current FIFA rankings, with Argentina currently maintaining the top spot.

“It’s not easy to go to Argentina and Brazil,” Klinsmann said. “So what we’re going to see in this Copa America is very special, and it can easily compete with the European Championship.”

What do you think of Klinsmann’s comments? Do you agree that the Copa America features more quality? Which tournament are you most looking forward to?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Hold up, going to see if these comments increased the value of my Jamaica vs Venezuela ticket in Chicago….. Nope! Still selling for $6 on StubHub. Any takers?

    Reply
    • See America, soccer better than the Euros for only $6 a piece can’t beat the value! That’s cheaper than a 3rd round US Open Cup game at your local high school stadium.

      Reply
  2. He’s really just doing PR, trying to sell more tickets. I’m sure his comments won’t be the same when he starts working for BBC analyzing the Euros. The better the tournament does the more chance the US has of hosting SC 2026, by your tickets and be nice America and in 10 years we can host the world.

    Reply
    • Rob wanted to make sure we all remember how much he hates America. He hasn’t reminded us in a few hours. Thanks Rob.

      Reply
      • Slow can’t ever forgive me for calling him out when he went off on his racist rants.
        I must say he’s cleaned up his act since then. I feel kind of proud for that.
        You are welcome SBI

      • Rob is still upset I called out Mexico fans for bad behavior at games. Apparently that’s racist.

    • Except, it always is diluted with a Concacaf team or two, because you know a 10 team bracket is tough to deal with. Usually, Mexico and one other team that usually bring B squads because it coincides with the much easier to win Gold Cup. Plus, you always have Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela. Also in a normal year 2 out of the 3 third place teams qualify for the knockout phase.

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      • Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela might not be the strongest teams in South America, but they aren’t pushovers either and are all better than most of CONCACAF, both Peru and Venezuela were semifinalists at the last Copa America.

      • Certainly didn’t want to make them sound like San Marino and Malta, but those three teams would not qualify for the Euros on a regular basis, even with 24 teams now involved. And if you read my comment again I said Copa is always diluted by Concacaf teams, there are just four extra this year.

  3. Do the sportswriters pay Jurgen to say things like this? Or just buy him a beer or two? Nothing like a few “thoughts” from Jurgen to fix a slow news day.

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  4. I think, on average, the quality of the teams in the Copa OVER ALL is superior. Once you get to the final 8, the Europeans will be superior on average.

    Just my opinion. It’s all subjective. Don’t freak out.

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  5. This is the first time and pretty sure the only time i can and will completely agree with this overrated P.E coach.

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  6. I somewhat agree with him. When Euro was just 16 teams, the group games were just insane. Now, with 24 teams, there are a number of teams that don’t seem that good / compelling. Once you get to the 2nd ground, then yes, the quality is pretty high. There is definitely dilution.

    I think the 16 teams in the Copa America compare pretty favorably to the top 16 for Euro.

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    • I’d concede Top 8 in each tournament you would be splitting hairs, but not top 16. In Euro you are talking about Czech Rep, Sweden, Poland, and Romania that compares to Haiti, Panama, Bolivia and Venezuela. At least in Euros those teams went through qualifying, only Haiti and Panama (through a home match with Cuba) had to qualify.

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  7. Wow, right when I was about to say he’s making up an excuse (and full of it) I realized, he’s right:

    1 (ARG) Argentina – COPA AMERICA 2016
    2 (BEL) Belgium – Euro 2016.
    3 (CHI) Chile – COPA AMERICA 2016
    4 (COL) Colombia – COPA AMERICA 2016
    5 (GER) Germany – Euro 2016.
    6 (ESP) Spain – Euro 2016.
    7 (BRA) Brazil – COPA AMERICA 2016
    8 (POR) Portugal – Euro 2016.
    9 (URU) Uruguay – COPA AMERICA 2016
    10 (ENG) England – Euro 2016.
    11 (AUT) Austria – Euro 2016.
    12 (ECU) Ecuador – COPA AMERICA 2016
    13 (TUR) Turkey – Euro 2016.
    14 (SUI) Switzerland- Euro 2016.
    15 (ITA) Italy – Euro 2016.
    16 (MEX) Mexico – COPA AMERICA 2016
    17 (NED) Netherlands – Euro 2016.
    18 (HUN) Hungary – Euro 2016.
    19 (ROU) Romania – Euro 2016.
    20 (BIH) Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    5 countries in the COPA America are in the top 10!! Ouch…lol

    Reply
      • Not Germany, but Spain, at this point, definitely. Also, not sure people noticed, but you look at the last world cup… of the 9 teams that came out of the Concacaf/Comnebol region, only Honduras didn’t make it into the elimination rounds at the world cup. So Chile, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, US, Mexico, Costa Rica. Compare that to Europe… and there has been a very prominent changing of the guard. Europe has 3 teams that can compete with the Americas right now (Belgium, Germany, France) and 3 more that can on any given Sunday (Italy, Spain, Holland who are all old and decrepit), but would certainly lose a home and home. Beyond that, Europe is woefully deficient.

    • yeah, but the other 5 are in the euro, and if you look at spots 11-20, the euro has way more of those teams.

      not sure what klinsmann means at any rate: the good teams that would be in the “old euro” format are still there; they’ve just added in some other teams as well. sounds to me like he’s just following the time-honored tradition of coaches building up the competition so that it doesn’t look so bad if their teams doesn’t perform.

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    • ELO Rankings make it look like its not even close
      1. Germany
      2. Argentina
      3. Brazil
      4. Spain
      5. Colombia
      6. France
      7. Chile
      8. Uruguay
      9. England
      10. Mexico

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      • Umm… That ranking shows it 6-4 in favor of Copa America teams, fairly evenly dispersed. Which is pretty much exactly the opposite of “not even close.” In fact, it is as close as it could be without being even.

      • Sorry Josh you are right, I am not sure what I was doing. I think I was typing a different comment and then switched midstream.

    • FIFA rankings are absurd. As noted, the idea that Chile and Colombia are better than Germany or Spain is laughable. Similarly, Turkey, Austria and Ecuador better than Italy? I know Italy aren’t the strongest right now but I don’t think many are buying that either.

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      • Chile and Colombia are definitely better than Spain at this point. I don’t even think spain makes it out of their group.

      • Spain won’t get out of a group containing Croatia, Turkey and the Czech Republic and where 4 out of 6 third-place teams advance?

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